IBM Teases 330TB of Data in Palm-Sized Cartridge

The company has demonstrated the ability to record at an areal density of 201 gigabits per square inch (Gb/in2) on magnetic tape.

IBM Research scientists, in collaboration with Sony, have achieved a new world record in tape storage.

Announced Wednesday, the latest achievement has the potential to store a mind-blowing “330 terabytes of uncompressed data on a single tape storage that would fit in the palm of your hand.”

Keep in mind that a 330TB cartridge doesn’t exist, at least not yet. It’s just a theoretical prediction at this point. IBM Research Exploratory Tape Scientist Mark Lantz (pictured above) explained that the company has demonstrated the ability to record at an areal density of 201 gigabits per square inch (Gb/in2) on magnetic tape. In other words: 201 billion bits per square inch, or the world’s highest areal recording density for magnetic tape storage.

“That translates to a potential cartridge capacity of 330 terabytes on a single tape cartridge,” he said.

This is the IBM’s fifth world record in tape storage since 2006, when the company’s researchers first packed 6.67 billion bits of data per square inch onto a test tape.

“Foremost, this demonstrates the potential to continue scaling tape technology, basically at historical rates of doubling the cartridge capacity every two years for at least the next ten years,” Lantz said. That’s “really good news” for businesses that still rely on tape technology as part of their storage infrastructure, he added.

“We want to continue trying to push the limits,” Lantz said. “The potential is huge to continue scaling tape for many more years beyond what we were able to show today.”